The invention relates to a mirror for observing an infant in a rearward-facing child safety seat located in the back seat, the mirror being adapted for attachment to at least one tether fastener associated with the back seat
Children below a certain age traveling in a vehicle are required to be secured in a child safety seat that is itself fastened to the center of a back seat of the vehicle. It has become common practice, as a result of the recommendations of child safety advocates, to position a child car safety seat such that the child occupant, especially infants, of the safety seat faces the rear of the vehicle. This is intended to protect the child in the event of an accident by insuring that the child will be projected toward the soft back of the child safety seat.
Child car safety seats are often constructed with side panels that can obstruct any view of a smaller child when the child is in the child safety seat. This, plus the rear facing orientation of a child safety seat, makes it very difficult for a driver to check on the condition of a rearward facing small child. If a small child is crying or otherwise giving indications of distress, the driver, if alone, is put in the position of having to stop the car in order to check on the child. This can be inconvenient at best, and dangerous at worst if there is no safe roadside location to which the driver may safely drive the vehicle. If there is another passenger in the car, the passenger must turn her/his body and lean back over the front seat. In either case, the situation is dangerous or inconvenient. If the child is quiet, it is important that the driver or passenger be able to monitor the child to ensure that nothing untoward has happened to the child.
Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards require that all new forward facing child safety seats meet stricter head protection requirements. To meet these requirements, most seats will have a top tether strap. Most passenger vehicles manufactured after Sep. 1, 1999 are equipped with top tether anchors. All cars, minivans, and light trucks will have these anchors beginning September, 2000. These anchors are required in three rear seating positions. Top tether anchors may be found on the rear shelf area of a vehicle. In some vehicles, such as mini vans and station wagons, the tether anchor may be found on the rear floor of the vehicle or on the back of the rear seat.
Currently, some new passenger vehicles are equipped with lower child seat anchorage points between a vehicle""s seat cushion and seat back. By Sep. 1, 2002, the two lower anchorage points and top tether anchor will be required in every rear seating position of all cars, minivans, and light trucks.
Embodiments of the present invention provide a mirror which is primarily intended for positioning against the back seat of a vehicle. The mirror is adapted to being attached to various tether fasteners joined to a vehicle structure about the back seat. To soften and reduce the starkness of a mirror to a child, a fabric cover with elastic edging may be positioned over the back of the mirror. The fabric cover may have a stuffed figure attached thereto.
One specific embodiment of the present invention is a device for observing an infant in a rear facing safety seat located in the rear seat of a motor vehicle. A rear seat mirror has a front reflecting surface and a back surface. A mirror positioning structure is connected to the back surface by a v-shaped arrangement of support surfaces. A mirror attachment assembly includes at least one strap having a secured end connected to at least one of the back surface and the mirror positioning structure, and a free end having a fastener capable of connecting to a tether anchor associated with the rear seat.